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There
are few sights more familiar to aviation fans than the bright red
Hawk jets of the Red Arrows.
2004
sees the fortieth anniversary of the renowned display team.
The
Arrows have a long-standing connection with the county of Gloucestershire,
having been based at Kemble between 1966 until 1983, when they were
relocated to Lincolnshire.
History
The
team was formed in 1964 following concerns by the RAF over the lack
of an official display team. There were at that time a number of
unofficial teams, which had prompted concerns among Air Force chiefs
that some personnel were spending more hours practicing fancy formation
flying instead of carrying out operational training.
However,
after four decades of displays across the globe, recent reports
in the national press have suggested that the future funding of
the team may not be secure.
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| The
Red Arrows team |
Speaking
to ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Gloucestershire at the 2004 Kemble Air Day, the Red Arrows'
Squadron Leader 'Spike' Jepson refuted such claims, describing them
as "sensationalised".
"I
think the key point to make is that all military units have to justify
their existence and we're no different from anybody else and each
year we make sure that we deliver value to the taxpayers,"
he said.
"We
get looked at every year, but we don't believe that this year is
any different."
High
spirits
Jepson
said team morale was unaffected by the claims.
"We've
dismissed it - we get on with our day to day duty which is to fly
and to represent the Air Force of the United Kingdom," he commented.
"This
is our fortieth season, we very much look forward to coming back
next year and we will support all of the air shows in the Gloucestershire
area if we can."
If
you would like to comment on this story get in touch at gloucestershire@bbc.co.uk
or have your say on our
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This
year sees the fortieth anniversary of the formation Red Arrows display
team, who are scheduled to fly at the Royal International Air Tattoo
in Fairford.
